£8m investment to stabilise GSW embankments
REMEDIAL work to protect and contain embankments from slips, and adjacent land from causing flooding on the railway, is taking place on the former Glasgow & South Western route between Sanquhar and Dumfries.
Costing £8m, Network Rail along with contractor QTS, is improving the condition of cuttings where modelling and pro-active monitoring has indicated an increased risk from extreme rainfall.
Work includes the installation of extensive crest drainage at the top of railway embankments to channel water flowing from hillsides surrounding the railway into newly upgraded drains which will carry it away from the track and discharge it safely.
Trackside drainage has also been upgraded with capacity increased to reflect the larger volume of rain which is falling and to minimise the risk of localised floods.
Loose stone and vegetation is being removed and rock netting installed, while soil slopes above rock cuttings are also being regraded to reduce the possibility of landslips.
With extreme weather having an impact on Scotland’s railways, Network Rail estimates that between 2019 and 2024 it will spend £149m on such work, a 25% increase on similar work between 2014 and 2019.